Could we get some info on who the navvies probably were? In US it is at least folklore that from the east to west it was mostly Irish and west to east mostly Chinese..but at least east to west there were many ethnic groups.

I thought railroads came a bit later..but in 1850s probablya lot of Irish came through ports in Canada..probably how my ancestors got in..then they worked their way down through Vermont and New York, got jobs on the canals, and some settled in midwest and their sons worked on the railroads.

So I think first we must establish who did the railroads in Canada..a lot of the Irish coming through Canada were not English speakers, although I am sure they knew enough to handle a pick etc...I think there were Cubans building US railroads, as well as Slavs, etc. Poor Pedro works on the railway...mg